The MySky App Lets Amateur Astronomers Control Professional Telescopes

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at space photography but don’t have access to an extraordinarily powerful telescope and imaging system, the MYSky app will finally give you a chance to capture the stars.

Developed by the Slooh Space Camera collaboration, the MYSky app allows anyone with an iPad to browse the universe with his or her fingertips. Once the app is installed, users only need tap on an object in the starry heavens to tell a powerful telescope to snap a high-resolution picture of that image.

Although the app itself is fairly straightforward, novice astronomers in big cities might have to do some research to determine what the best viewing time is to avoid light pollution and cloudy weather.

“Astronomy is inherently complex and it can be hard for newbies to understand how the night sky works,” says Slooh president Patrick Paolucci. “We are trying to break all those barriers down to make it simple.”